The assassination of outspoken Pakistani Governor Salman Taseer has started a new debate in different sections of Pakistani society, and it has clearly drawn a line between the religious elements and the liberal class. The history of Pakistan since 1947 has observed such divisions, which widen when faced with such incidents.

New year, new crisis. For the beleaguered, once-independent nations of Europe now entangled in the eurozone, the economic drama unfolding in Portugal this week looks woefully familiar. According to the latest speculations in the financial press, the Portuguese government is now under pressure from other European governments to accept a bailout from the EU, much like what happened with Ireland last fall. As with Ireland, Portugal is now denying the need for any bailout, insisting that she can solve her own problems with spending cuts, tax hikes, and other budgetary modifications.

In a gesture of goodwill to Moscow, the government of Kyrgyzstan decided to name a 14,587-foot mountain, located in the Tian-Shan range in northern Kyrgyzstan, the Putin Mountain in honor of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The announcement was made by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, “who signed the bill to rename the peak,” according to the Telegraph.

The second half of the 20th century was defined by the military and ideological rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. While Russia still maintains a Cold War posture, bearing little difference to its Soviet predecessor, a new Cold War is quickly brewing on the horizon as a new superpower emerges in the East — the People’s Republic of China (PRC).